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Tuesday, 2 October 2012

Ashamed not be a politician?

Hi all, this isn’t going to be a
party political broadcast don’t worry but as the US Presidential race is on the
news and our own party conferences are taking place I thought it was a suitable
time to write this particular blog.

I’ve thought about this a lot over the years, as far back as
school. It seemed to be a passing fad (as when I was sixteen years old and
popped into my local church to ask what I had to do to become a priest…that
would have been an interesting turn of events, check my religious outlook on
Facebook to see what path that would have led me down) as around that time I
had no real interest in joining the local Conservative or Labour party as I
didn’t think much about politics as a subject in itself, I thought about it
more as a vocational calling that people either had or didn’t have, so for
example I never considered studying politics at college or anything like that.
As I’ve said before I always had an interest in writing and that if anything
was the backdrop to normal life. However I can see now why I had the side of me
that enjoyed watching Prime Minister’s questions, BBC1’s Question Time and
generally keeping in the loop of what can easily be considered boring at that
age.

The more I have focused on writing in the last couple of years and
the more I have examined my interests the more I have accepted that I am
aligned to contemporary fiction, modern day drama, coping with society, and
issues that deal with what people are going through in the here and now. That
doesn’t necessarily mean my writing has to be set in a realistic present day
recognizable London but that those themes will be present. As I listen to the
same old arguments that politicians have debated for centuries, the same old
inequalities, the same (in my eyes) ridiculously outdated prejudices and
countless other blood-boiling ignorance, the closer I feel to what I want to
write about. At the root of all their talk, whether it is genius or drivel, they
are talking about people’s lives and I know that is what I want to talk about
too.

I am not a ‘writer’ yet,
I am a novice but I think I am prepared to go out on a limb and say that the
kind of writing I am interested in requires the desire to examine emotions that
expose the unrecognized aspects of ourselves, the parts that we hide away (from
ourselves as well as from others), the elements of our make up we know are
there but don’t put down in bold on our CV…selfishness, jealously, spite,
anger, resentment, ego, ignorance…not to say I’m a totally miserable grump (not
totally…) as I want to celebrate all that is fantastic and beautiful too but I
feel that I am drawn to conflict, not out of a physical desire to hurt but from
an emotional need to control and justify. I want to expose situations where
there is discord in fairness, justice, equality and happiness and isn’t that,
well, politics?

There is an old saying, “All mouth and fool me trousers”, sorry, ”Fool
me twice and never wear trousers again”…no wait, oh something like that anyway,
and whether it is a politician saying it or your friend down the pub, it is
getting at the core of this blog. I want to talk about politics, I want to
raise awareness of politics, I want to champion my view of politics…so why haven’t
I got the guts to go into politics? I do feel ashamed when I ask myself that
question. I want the world to be a better place. I want my views to be listened
to. I want to create. I want to drive. I want to inform. I want to empower.
Yet, here I am sitting in my bedroom, on my laptop, wondering if I should call
my protagonist Tom, Dick or Harry. Shouldn’t I be out there knocking on doors
telling people why it is so important for them to vote? Shouldn’t I be
convincing people that they are in one of the most privileged societies in the
world and they should use that privilege to make their country more
democratically governed? Shouldn’t I be telling them how they can contribute to
making this country a better place? Shouldn’t I be campaigning for things that
are important to me, housing, healthcare, employment, education education
education? The answer has to be yes. I can think of a thousand excuses why I want
it to be no, and I will continue to employ those excuses, and let’s be honest,
the most basic excuse is, I’m all right Jack. I’ve got a sensible head on my
shoulders, I can cope with changes in my life if I need to…but the truth is not
everyone can, and actually, what if I’m wrong, what if put in that situation I
can’t cope…what if I lose my job and I can’t find another? What if I lived
somewhere where I didn’t have access to medication? What if I didn’t have the
friends and family I do and there was no one to help me when I needed it? What
if…

Well, for a lot of the world those what if’s happen every day and
I have to look in the mirror and tell myself I am doing nothing to change that.
Yes, I give money to charity and yes I help people who fundraise and yes I take
social responsibility seriously so I recycle and do all those little things
that make us feel better about ourselves while making no difference at all on
the international level.

So how do I console myself and convince myself I am a useful
member of society? There are a couple of obvious things, I am a decent person,
I do not commit crimes, I do not take advantage of people, I act as a useful
and constructive person in my community. However, that’s taken for granted
right? Anyone reading this who thinks it is acceptable to actively promote
making other people’s lives worse probably doesn’t care less about the minimum
wage or teaching standards in schools (well, maybe they do).

So that is my dilemma. Is it good enough just to be good? If we
are capable of doing more then aren’t we obligated by our own morality and
intelligence to do so? I know that we aren’t all cut out to be politicians, it
is a hard tough demanding job and I praise those who dedicate their lives (very
publicly) to their causes. Even if I will always regret not making a stand as a
politician I know that I will try to make an impact in my own way, and for me
that way is by writing. I just hope that I write for long enough to produce meaningful
works that people like and make them feel better, whether that is through
simply enjoying a story, or by making them question themselves over the
subjects raised…that would make me happy. I may never earn enough money from
writing to buy myself more than the occasional pint and a packet of peanuts at
the pub but I want to know I have made a difference to someone other than me. Perhaps that is politics? I don’t really have an answer, this blog is more of an
on-going argument I have with myself every time I sit down to write and I ask
myself why I’m bothering. I will try to create awareness of, and debate on, social issues by writing rather than standing on the soapbox. Everyone will have their own view on it and there is
no right or wrong, people’s opinions are their own and isn’t that politics!

R.G Rankine

www.rgrankine.com

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